Dixie Love
by amiundone
Summary: Johnny and Ponyboy move to Cullman, Alabama a few years after Johnny's promise to Ponyboy. They meet a few new people and bring someone new into their family. SEQUEL TO I LOVE YOU WHEN YOU CAN'T
1. Chapter 1

Dixie Love

_Chapter One _

He promised

"Nurse Cade, you're needed in the waiting room," 24 year old Jonathan Cade was told as he walked out of the cafeteria.

"Why?" He asked, spinning around to look at Nurse Gibson, a large white woman in her 30s.

"There's a man out there yelling for you. He's disturbing the other patents," she told him as she walked away.

Johnny sighed and walked the way to the main waiting room on the first floor. He was almost sure he knew who it was and wasn't surprised by the order he'd gotten. This happened almost once a week at the hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma that he worked at.

That would all change that weekend for him. No more yelling for him in the waiting room. One of the perks he saw in moving out of the state.

He made his way out to the waiting room, getting hopeful looks from the waiting people in the small room.

Johnny looked passed them and over to the corner where Dallas Winston was standing with a smirk painted on his face.

"What'ch doin, huh? You're gonna get me fired," Johnny asked with fake anger.

Dally shrugged and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, "Smoke?" He asked, pointing to the door.

Johnny sighed and nodded, following his friend outside. He took a cigarette from him quickly and leaned against the brick wall.

"Don't you have to keep that thing clean?" Dally asked, tugging on the shirt of Johnny's scrub.

"I can change them," Johnny answered, lighting up.

Dally did the same, standing in front of Johnny.

No one could say that Dallas grew up fully, but just enough to accept Ponyboy and Johnny being together. It took two years in isolation for him to understand that it was okay for Johnny and Ponyboy to be gay. When he finally understood everything about the gang almost went back to normal. By almost it meant as normal as it could ever be.

"So, what's going on, John?" Dally asked after a few moments of silents.

"Nothin," Johnny answered, not sure if it was time to tell Dally about his and Pony's plans to move that weekend. Of course, everyone else knew.

"Well, I heard from Two-Bit you and Pony are about to skip town," Dally said, nudging him a bit.

"We're moving, yeah," Johnny answered, feeling pretty bad about it.

Johnny was everything to Dallas and he knew it. He knew it since Dally gave in to his Queer hating and let Johnny back into his life. He loved Johnny in a father son kinda way for years and now Johnny was just going to up and leave.

Dally nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Where?" He asked, looking at the building in front of them.

"Cullman, Alabama." Johnny answered, looking down at the concrete.

"Why so far?" Dally asked, looking over to the younger man.

"Pony wants to go south. Its south," Johnny answered, shrugging.

Dally sighed and nodded, trying to cover up how upset he really was.

"It's gonna be great," Johnny muttered, not able to keep himself from smiling.

"Yeah? Well, you need to get back to work, huh?" Dally asked, turning around to leave.

"See ya later, Dal," Johnny called, stomping out his cigarette.

Dally waved over his shoulder, not looking back.

Johnny sighed and went back inside to change into some new scrubs.

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Johnny made his way home around six, letting the next shift take over. He got into his old car that he happily bought the year before.

His apartment wasn't far from the hospital, just a bit out of town.

Ponyboy loved it at Johnny's apartment. He went to it every weekend when he was still in high school. The day he moved in, he claims, was the happiest day of his life. Johnny didn't believe him when he said it, but was just glad he was happy.

Johnny's apartment wasn't big at all. It was a one room apartment with one bathroom, and bedroom and living room combo, and a small kitchen in the back. It was really small, but Pony kept it really clean when he moved in. Pony was really good with house work, something Johnny wasn't good at.

Johnny got to the apartment after fifteen minutes of driving. He knew Pony was home, he always was since he finished college.

Ponyboy didn't like going back to town with out Johnny with him. It was just something he didn't want to do. He waited till Johnny was off and they'd go back and see everyone.

Johnny got to his door on the third story and unlocked it, pushing the door opened. He saw Pony sitting on the bed on the phone.

Probably talking to Sodapop.

Pony looked up and saw him. He smiled and ended his conversation quickly to greet him.

"Hey," he said, hanging the phone up and going over to Johnny.

"Hey," Johnny muttered, kissing him softly like he did every day he got off work.

Pony smiled as he pulled away slowly, "How was work?"

Johnny shrugged and sat on the bed, "Dal showed up. I told him about our plans." Johnny muttered.

"Oh, how'd he take it?" Pony asked, sitting beside him.

Johnny shrugged, "Pretty good. He didn't throw a fit or anything."

Pony nodded, putting his arms around Johnny's waist, "I can't wait." He muttered, smiling.

Johnny nodded, putting an arm around his neck, "But we have to be a secret again. For real this time."

Ponyboy shuddered, but nodded. He never liked the thought, but it had to be that way.

Johnny gave him a weak smile, hugging him.

Pony smiled, putting his head on his chest. "I love you," he muttered, closing his eyes.

"I love you too," Johnny said, laying down slowly, rubbing his back.

"We're gonna be okay? Being that far away?" Pony asked after a few minutes of sweet silents.

"Yeah, we are. I promise."

**Looks like it got here earlier then I thought. Well here ya go and I'll be working on chapter two for you. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The night before Johnny and Ponyboy's moving day they went to dinner at the Curtis house with everyone. It was the first time the whole gang had been together at the same time in years. They all sat at the table, chatting away as they ate. Everyone had changed so much in the last few years.

Sodapop had grown a lot, moving out of the house during Pony's last year of high school. He moved into a house with Steve and they made plans for they're own business. It was, of course, a garage to fix cars. His looks hadn't changed much through the years. The only thing that changed was that he stopped greasing his hair, like the others had.

Steve changed a lot as well, pretty much following Soda's steps. He bought the house himself and moved in months before Soda, getting it ready. Him and Evie broke up along the way. She said that he wasn't paying attention to her anymore and left one night. No one really knows where she went cause no one saw her after that. Steve guessed that she went to live with her sister in California. He didn't seem to care much at all.

Darry was pretty much the same, but after Ponyboy moved out he started dating again. At the time he was with some girl, Jane, and they seemed pretty serious. It was almost scary to Ponyboy and Sodapop that Darry would ever even think about getting married or having kids. Darry didn't even know if he wanted a wife and kids, but he told them he was going to see how things played out with them and make a decision.

Two-Bit was a little different, not that he'd moved out of his mom's house or anything. He had gotten a job at a toy factory, somewhere he (surprisingly) hated working at. He hadn't been with any girls that much through the years, he said he was busy. That was un Two-Bit like. They all thought about just calling him Keith, because that name would have fit his personality at the time. His personality took a dramatic turn after he was invited to Marcia and Randy's wedding. He didn't go, he just sat at his house, called up his girlfriend at the time, and broke it off with her. After he accomplished that he started drinking more than he ever had.

Dally hadn't changed much at all. He was still getting thrown in jail every other month it seemed. He was still protective of Johnny, even though he'd grown up and got his own life. Dally was still in the bars and chasing after girls. No one would believe that Dallas Winston might actually get a job, a house, and grow up. Even Tim already had a family going and he was making an honest living.

"Are you guys ready and packed?" Darry asked as he and Ponyboy went to put the dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, Johnny packed everything we're gonna need. He put it in the car last night," Pony answered, putting water in the sink to do the dishes.

Darry nodded, grabbing a rag to dry. "What time are you leaving out in the morning?"

"About three so we can get there at a good time," Pony answered as he started to wash.

"Do you need anything? Like money?" Darry asked after a few seconds of silents.

"No, we're okay," Ponyboy answered quickly. He'd already promised himself when he moved out that he wouldn't barrow money or anything from Darry.

Darry stared at him for a minute then went back to drying slowly. "We'll miss you, kid."

Ponyboy smiled, finishing up the dishes, "I'll miss you too." He muttered.

The relationship between Ponyboy and Darry had gotten better as Pony got older and understood what Darry was so hard on him. He understood that Darry really loved him and was just trying to give him a better life than he got stuck with. Darry was there for Ponyboy when he went to college. Ponyboy would call him in the middle of the night to get help with his homework. Darry never got angry over it. He always helped Ponyboy or Johnny when they needed anything.

The two went back into the living room where everyone was sitting around and talking.

Johnny was with Two-Bit and Steve on the couch talking about work.

Sodapop and Dally were sitting on the floor, playing poker, betting cigarettes.

Ponyboy sat down in front of the couch, leaning on Johnny's leg.

Johnny smiled, nudging him a bit.

"You guys staying here tonight?" Soda asked from where he was sitting with Dally.

"Yep, we're gonna get up early and head out," Johnny answered, putting his hand on Pony's head.

"I would say that Darry would enjoy the company, but…" Dally started before Soda made a puking sound.

The gang started making fun of Darry when he started bringing his girlfriends home. It was really gross to Pony and Soda. Even when it was mentioned around them, one or both would make gagging noises. Not that either of them haven't had their fair share of 'exciting' nights.

Especially Ponyboy.

If anyone in the gang knew what Johnny and Ponyboy did they'd either pass out or really throw up.

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Johnny and Ponyboy went to bed early that night in Ponyboy's old room.

It looked the same way it did when he left.

"I can't wait till morning," Ponyboy whispered as they laid down.

Johnny laughed, putting his arm around him. "Well get some sleep, baby."

Ponyboy nodded, but didn't get any sleep that night. He stayed up, watching Johnny sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter Three _

Ponyboy was the first one up that morning at 1 a.m. He went and took a quick shower and woke Johnny up so that he could get ready for the long drive.

"Oh gees, it's early," Johnny said, pulling his clothes on slowly.

Pony sat back on the bed and watched. Ponyboy couldn't help himself when it came to Johnny, he always watched him when he was doing stuff. Ponyboy thought Johnny could do no wrong and would always look good.

Johnny did look good, tho he didn't think so. His bangs had grown out a little more and he parted them in the middle so that he could see. (A/N Ralph Macchio in Naked in New York) He was really thin, like he always was, but it looked good for him. Johnny could make any man turn gay and any woman leave her husband.

"It's really cold too, I hate getting up in the morning," Johnny said, buttoning his shirt.

"Yeah, Darry doesn't use the heater much," Ponyboy told him, like he didn't already know.

Johnny nodded and sat down beside Pony, "You know… No one else is gonna be up for a while," Johnny muttered, putting his hand on Pony's leg.

Pony grinned and put his arms around Johnny's neck, pulling him on top of him.

Johnny pushed his hands up Pony's shirt slowly, he always did things slowly. That was how Ponyboy liked everything. Nice and slow.

"You don't seem too sleepy right now," Pony muttered as Johnny kissed his neck.

Johnny smiled against him, "Are you complaining?" He asked, pulling away.

"Of course not," Pony answered, pulling him back down.

"I thought so," Johnny muttered as he started again.

Ponyboy sighed happily, tilting his head to give Johnny more room.

Ponyboy and Johnny were always doing stuff like that. They liked being close in that was, not that it was all their relationship was about. They'd done it just about everywhere. Behind a drug store, on Darry's bed, on the Curtis couch, in the Curtis bathroom while everyone was out in the living room, at Ponyboy's high school after a track meet, at the hospital while Johnny was on a break, on the kitchen table, on the kitchen counter, on Darry's chair, and in Steve's car. And those were just the ones they remembered.

"Pony? Johnny? You two up?" They heard from the door.

Pony sighed, pushing up on Johnny's chest. They didn't have as long as they thought.

Johnny groaned and got up, "Yeah, we'll be right out," he answered for them.

Pony fixed his shirt and got off the bed.

They went out to the living room where Sodapop, Dally, and Darry where.

Sodapop and Dally stayed over that night and the others were gonna come later that morning to say goodbye.

"Morning," Pony muttered, sitting on the couch beside Soda.

"You get any sleep last night, kid?" Soda asked, putting his arm around Ponyboy.

"A little," Ponyboy answered, lying. He didn't get any sleep that night. He couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried that night.

Johnny had slept the whole night like nothing was happening.

Pony wished he had stayed up too so at least he would have had something to do.

"I'm gonna miss ya, a lot Pony," Soda said as everyone started showing up. "And I thought spending the night away from you was bad," he laughed.

Ponyboy chuckled, looking over to Johnny, whom was talking to Dally and Two-Bit.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Pony muttered, hugging him tight. "I love you."

"I love you too, Pony," Soda muttered, not wanting to start crying. Soda never wanted Ponyboy to leave town, even tho he knew he would one day. It was just hard to have to say his goodbyes. "Don't forget to call me," Soda said, letting Pony go as Darry came over.

"I won't. I'll call you as much as I can," Ponyboy promised before looking over to his oldest brother.

"I'll miss ya a lot," Darry said, patting Pony on the back.

Ponyboy smiled, "I'll miss you too. And this house."

The worst thing about leaving and going to another state was leaving the family house for Pony. He knew Darry was gonna stay there till he died, but he just kinda wished he could stay there forever. With Darry getting pretty serious with some girl he might have kids and the house would be passed to them. It was just something Ponyboy had to face.

"Here," Darry said, holding a photo out to Pony.

Ponyboy took it and remembered the photo and when it was taken.

It was a photo of Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry, and their parents outside the country home they used to go too. It was their old grandfather who had taken the picture. He died days after.

Darry had this photo in his room since their parents died. It amazed Ponyboy when he handed it to him.

"Keep it with you," Darry said, hugging him.

Ponyboy hugged back, "I will."

"I think Johnny's ready to go," Darry said, letting Ponyboy go and looking at Johnny.

Ponyboy looked back to Johnny and smiled. "Yeah, I love you," Ponyboy said.

"I love you too," Darry said, smiling.

Ponyboy went over to Johnny, "Ready?" He asked.

Johnny nodded, "If you are."

"I am," Pony said.

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After all the last goodbyes from everyone they were on the road.

Ponyboy almost instantly feel asleep when they got out of town.

Johnny smiled at his sleeping lover and turned the radio to the news, the only channel that got good reception at all. He wanted to know the weather. He was so ready to be there, but he knew it'd be a while of non-stop driving with a few breaks.

Pony would sleep the whole way, Johnny knew it. Driving made Ponyboy sleepy no matter how long the ride was.

It was okay with Johnny if he slept, cause he knew Pony hadn't slept the night before. It was just gonna be a little lonely for him.

But when they got to where they were going, they'd have a lot to talk about.

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The first stop was in Woodruff, Arkansas for breakfast.

Johnny had to wake Ponyboy up when he got the biscuits and Cokes from a convenient store.

Pony woke up slowly but quickly smelled the food. "Where are we?" He asked, taking his biscuit.

"Arkansas, were about to be in Mississippi," Johnny answered, eating.

Ponyboy nodded, "And after Mississippi we'll be in Alabama?"

"Yep, and close," Johnny answered, resting his eyes as he ate slowly.

"I can drive for a while if you need to sleep," Pony said.

"No way, Pony. No offence, but your driving is really scary," Johnny said, grinning.

"Hey!" Pony snapped playfully.

Johnny laughed, finishing his food and starting the car up again. "I'll be able to drive, Pony. Don't worry."

"You're so mean to me," Pony said, smiling. "Looks like someone's gonna be pretty lonely for a few nights."

"You can't hold out and you know it, Ponyboy Curtis," Johnny said shaking his head.

"Oh, and why is that?" Pony asked, crossing his arms.

"You're crazy bout me," Johnny answered.

"You gotta big head there on your shoulders," Pony commented.

"And you love me," Johnny said.

"And who ever said that?"

"You do every time you put your clothes back on," Johnny answered, winking.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Four _

Ponyboy slept thought the whole ride from Arkansas to Alabama. Johnny had to stop and check if he was alive once when he couldn't wake him up.

When they got to Cullman Johnny stopped by a diner for dinner. He'd been there before when he came down to find a house for him and Ponyboy to live in.

"Wake up, baby," Johnny said, shaking him a little.

Ponyboy slapped Johnny's hand away and went right back to sleep. How he could sleep that way, Johnny never knew.

"Come on. We're here," Johnny said, patting Ponyboy's chest. He was ready to bring out the big guns soon.

Ponyboy did the same thing, muttering something along the lines of "I don't care."

Johnny smirked and unbuttoned the top three buttons, just enough to get to the most sensitive part of Ponyboy's body. Johnny leaned down and licked his nipple slowly, making Ponyboy jump awake with a moan.

"Not cool, Johnny," he muttered, pushing his head away and quickly buttoned his shirt.

Johnny shrugged, opening his door. "Come on. I'm starving," he said, getting out.

"You can' leave me like this!" Ponyboy yelled, getting out and getting his hand over his crotch.

Johnny smirked and went over to him, "Is someone horny?" he whispered.

Pony pouted, "It's your fault."

"I'm sorry, baby. I can't do anything about it till we get home. This isn't like Tulsa," Johnny said, sighing.

Ponyboy sighed," I know. Maybe it'll go away."

Johnny nodded, "Let's just get something to eat," he muttered, turning around to go in.

Ponyboy nodded and followed, covering his crotch with his hand.

Johnny loved Ponyboy's hands. He didn't understand the weird fetish, but he loved the look of them. The way his fingers were shaped when he covered himself or the way he could see the veins, trace them with his finger.

Johnny watched his boyfriend as they went inside. He saw every twitch his fingers made or every time they rubbed against his crotch.

The two were seated at a booth by a young girl, around fifteen or sixteen. She seemed nervous, but it was understandable.

Johnny and Ponyboy were too good looking for their own good. At least, that's what Two-Bit told them.

The girl was probably mesmerized by the sight before her. Around there all the girls had too choose from were farmers and the occasional businessman. She'd most likely never seen men that looked like they did.

"W-What can I get you?" she asked, pulling out her pad of paper and pen.

"A burger," Ponyboy muttered, looking at the table top.

"Same and coffee. What do you want to drink, Pony?" Johnny asked, looking away from the girl and too his lover.

"Pop," Ponyboy answered.

"What?" The girl asked, never hearing the slang term.

"Pepsi," Johnny said smiling at her.

The girl blushed and scribbled it all down onto her paper.

Ponyboy smiled at her as she left. "She had the hots for you," he muttered to Johnny.

Johnny laughed, "Whatever, she was staring at you."

Ponyboy rolled his eyes and smiled at him. "Doesn't matter," he said, nudging his lover's foot under the table.

Johnny smiled and nodded.

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After they ate Johnny drove to the house he'd gotten them when he first came there. It was only about ten minutes away from the diner.

The house was small. It had on bed room and one bathroom. The kitchen and living room where together in a small space. The house had no furniture, because Johnny couldn't afford it and had no way of getting it there.

"I know it's not much…" Johnny muttered as they walked into the living room/kitchen.

"I love it, Johnny!" Ponyboy said, looking around the empty room.

Johnny smiled and watching him form the door way. "I'll get us some furniture as soon as I can. As for now, there's a pay phone right outside."

Ponyboy nodded, looking at the inside of the frig that the previous owner left behind.

Johnny smiled and went over to sit on the counter.

Ponyboy came over and put his hands on Johnny's knees. "I'm still a little horny."

Johnny grinned, putting his hand on Pony's head. "Aw, I'm sorry baby."

Ponyboy smirked and pulled Johnny off the counter. "Where?" He asked, looking around the house.

"It's your turn to pick,"

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The next morning Johnny got up early and got ready for work. He'd already gotten a job at the nearby hospital the week before.

Ponyboy had and interview that morning seeing as schools opened a few days from then.

"Johnny, what if I don't get the job?" Ponyboy asked, buttoning his shirt.

"You'll get the job, Pony," Johnny said, putting his clothes on and getting his scrubs together to take with him.

Ponyboy sighed and looked in the bathroom mirror, "What if I'm too young?"

"You've gone through school, Pony. You could be 80 and they'd still have to give you a chance. Age doesn't matter," Johnny muttered, fixing his hair.

"You already have a job," Ponyboy said, trying to do his tie.

Johnny rolled his eyes and kissed Ponyboy, "Calm down," he said, pulling away and started fixing his lover's tie.

"Sorry, just nervous," Ponyboy said, watching him.

"I can tell, but you'll do fine," Johnny said, finishing and patting his chest.

Ponyboy nodded and pulled his over jacket on, "Drop me off?"

Johnny smiled and nodded, grabbing his bag. "Come on," he said, opening the door for Pony.

Ponyboy stopped and kissed him quickly. "It's gonna kill me having to wait all day to do this again," He muttered against his lips.

Johnny pulled his boyfriend back into the house, kicking the door shut.

"You're gonna be late," Ponyboy said, pulling away and leaning on the door.

"Just one more kiss," Johnny said, leaning in.

Ponyboy smiled and gave him a short peck.

"Not cool!" Johnny said as Ponyboy walked out the door.

"I don't know what you're talking about, John," Pony said, opening the passenger door and winking at him.

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Johnny got to work a little late, not too late. He got there and met everyone he'd be working with. He was okay with all of them and was told to follow a girl named Mary Lou Jackson for his first few days.

She was a small girl, around his age. She had long blond hair and green eyes.

"You're really gonna like it here, Jonathan," she said as they walked around.

"Call me Johnny. I'm sure I will," Johnny said, smiling at her.

She nodded and went to their first stop.

An old man named Garry Holders.

"He has to take these pills every day at noon," Mary said, showing Johnny the plastic cup.

Johnny nodded and watched the old man dry swallow them all.

They left the room soon after.

"He doesn't have long," Mary said, looking over to Johnny. "Only about a week or two left."

"That's sad," Johnny said, looking back at the room. "Any family?"

"His wife and son drop by sometimes, but it hurts them so much to see him they've just stopped visiting. It's broken his heart," she answered.

Johnny nodded, looking around as they walked. "Have you tried calling them?"

"It wouldn't do anything now. The man's lost the will to live," Mary answered. "But don't worry about it, Johnny. They come and go you know…"

Johnny nodded, "Yeah."

Johnny and Mary stayed together the whole day. Johnny thought Mary was interesting and he was happy he'd met someone to talk to at work.

"You wanna come to dinner tonight with me and my boyfriend, Rick? We'll pay." She asked as Johnny changed into his normal clothes to go home.

"Sure, can I bring my friend? We both move here in the same house. Can't leave him alone too long," Johnny asked, not wanting to pass up a free meal.

"Of course you can bring him. Come to Ed's Diner at seven," Mary said as Johnny picked his bag up.

"We'll see you then," Johnny said, leaving the changing room.

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Johnny picked Ponyboy up from the book store he was at. The store was only a short walk from the school so he was gonna stay there from 3 to 6 when Johnny got off to come get him.

Johnny went inside and found him, "How'd it go?" He asked.

Ponyboy grinned and got out of his chair, "I got to job. I'm now a ninth grade history teacher."

Johnny smiled and nodded, "Let's get home, we got a dinner thing with someone I met a work tonight."

Ponyboy nodded and went outside and too the car, "We're gonna celebrate, right?" He asked, putting his hand on Johnny's leg as he drove.

Johnny grinned, "Oh course, baby."

"I can't believe it, our lives are turning out great Johnny," Ponyboy said as they pulled into the driveway.

"I told you they would," Johnny said, getting out and going over to Ponyboy. He smiled and pulled his lover's over jacket off. "You look really good," Johnny said, turning around to go inside.

Ponyboy grinned and followed close behind, shutting the door behind him. Johnny kissed him slowly. It was the way he always got Ponyboy into the mood.

"Johnny, we don't have time," Pony said, pulling away as Johnny's tongue darted out to lick his.

Johnny ignored him and pulled Pony closer, pushing his tongue into his mouth.

Ponyboy pulled away again, smirking. "You're being greedy."

"And you're being stubborn," Johnny muttered, kissing his neck.

Pony pushed him off, "Take a cold shower or something. We can celebrate after dinner."

Johnny sighed and nodded, grabbing a towel and some clothes.

Ponyboy grinned and watched him go, grabbing Johnny's ass.

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They got to the diner as soon ad Mary and Rick did.

Rick was a tall, heavy built man. Ponyboy thought by the way he looked he would get along with Darry fine. But after talking to him he knew he was wrong.

Five minutes into dinner Johnny and Ponyboy new everything there was to know about banking. Rick came all the way from New York to Alabama to open a bank with his best friend David.

Ponyboy was so bored he thought he would just kill over. No one else talked. Just Rick, telling them his life story.

Darry would have defiantly killed him by then.

Mary didn't pay attention to the stories she'd heard five million times. She just stared at Johnny.

Johnny was a little uncomfortable with it, but was also used to it ever since he got his scar.

"Where'd that scar come from?" Mary suddenly asked, cutting Rick off.

Johnny reached up and traced it. "I got it years ago…"

Ponyboy almost couldn't stop himself from glaring at her. "It was an accident," he said quickly. She wouldn't have understood the truth.

Johnny nodded, looking at the table.

"Well if you wanna talk about scars, I got just the story for you," Rick started.

"You know, I need to get home. I got some papers to fill out," Ponyboy said, nudging Johnny.

"Yeah, me too. I gotta get to bed. Got a long week ahead of me," Johnny said, getting up.

"See you in the morning Johnny," Mary said as Ponyboy pulled Johnny out of the diner.

They got in the car and Johnny sighed. "Thanks," he said referring to the scar thing.

Ponyboy smiled at him, "No problem." Ponyboy was glad that Johnny could make friends at his job, but he didn't trust Mary. Not one bit.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm gonna start point of views. I'll switch them around but I'm not good at third person.

Chapter Five

-A few weeks later-

**Johnny's P.O.V **

Ponyboy and I had settled in their new home the best we could.

I got us and bed and a couch when I got the money. I worked as much as I could without having to leave Ponyboy alone at home longer than I wanted to.

Ponyboy didn't like being at our new house alone. He had told me that he'd seen a ghost on night while I was working late. Ponyboy swore he wouldn't stay in there for more than an hour or two by himself.

When I heard from Ponyboy that he'd seen a ghost in our house I had to stop myself from laughing. I didn't believe in ghost and, for a while, thought that Ponyboy was looking for attention from me. I could see why and I wished I didn't make him feel that way. I tried to get Ponyboy to let Mary's boyfriend keep him company, but Ponyboy shot that down instantly.

"Why not? You don't want to be a lone and he gets off of word around 2:30," I had asked as I got ready for work.

"He can't shut up. I'll end up killing him," Ponyboy answered, going through his lesson plan one last time. "Plus, I want _you_ home,"

"I just need to make some extra money and I'll stop with the overtime," I told him, grabbing my bag.

"Dinner with Mary tonight?" Ponyboy asked, rolling his eyes in the process.

"Don't be like that, Pony. She's trying to be nice," I said, sitting beside him.

"Johnny, she won't leave us alone since she met you," Pony wined, getting his stuff together.

"I'll be home by six and we have dinner at seven," I said, giving him a quick kiss before going out to my car.

Ponyboy started riding the bus to and from work. He told me that I needed to take my time. We both left for work at different times anyway.

I got in the car and sighed, put my forehead to the stirring wheel. We were growing apart so fast. I still loved him and all, but I saw less and less of him everyday. I couldn't even count how many times he'd begged me to stay home on a weekend. It made me feel like shit to see him like that.

Mary wasn't helping either. She wanted us to always go places with her and Rick. Ponyboy want me to stay home with him and I had to tell him we were going out almost every night. He hated Mary for that.

I sighed and started the car so I could get to work on time.

When I got to work Mary met me with some coffee.

"Thanks," I muttered, taking it.

"You're welcome. Boy do I have a story," she said as we sat down.

"Oh yeah?" I asked, trying to seem interested as I looked thought the charts.

"My sister, Grace, just had a baby with her boyfriend, Henry. Well, come to find out Henry has been cheating on her and she kicked him out and now she doesn't want the baby," Mary told me.

I looked over to her. I suddenly remembered that Ponyboy had asked me if I would ever adopt a baby for us to have. I'd told him that I would when we got the money.

"So, I asked Rick if we could adopt her and he said no. So, I broke up with him and I'm going to get Dixie this weekend," Mary said, looking way to happy.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't imagine how hard this must be for you," I said, getting up to do my rounds.

"I'll find someone," Mary said, following me.

"I hope you do," I said, getting to the first room.

"Oh I will," I heard her say.

**Ponyboy's P.O.V **

I was not having a good day. All the dip-shit teenagers were getting on my nerves. Is this really what I went to college for?

"James Garrett! Sit down!" I yelled, coming into my class room.

Everyone was talking so loud it was unbelievable.

"Do you need more work?" I asked, standing in the front of the room as I wrote the assignment.

"No," the all said.

I sighed and put my chalk down and went to my desk.

So many papers to grade.

I couldn't think right. I kept thinking about Johnny and that stupid dinner we had that night. I didn't want to go see Mary and Rick. I wanted to stay home with Johnny.

It'd been almost a month since we had sex.

"Fag!"

My eyes snapped over to a group of boys, picking on another boy.

Steven Barleys was the boy. He was little with brown hair. He wasn't on any sports teams and he didn't have any friends from what I saw.

"What's going on?" I asked, going over to the boys.

"He's queer, he asked Jeffery on a date," James said, showing me the note.

I read the note:

_To Jeffery, _

_I know you're probably not queer, but I really like you. Will you give it a chance and go to the movies with me? _

_From Steven, _

I felt really bad for the kid and remembered when me and Johnny got together.

"_I can't leave them." He had said, letting me go slowly._

"_You have to," I said, taking his hand and looking at his wrist. "because of stuff like this."_

_Johnny nodded, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand._

_I felt like I had to do something and he looked so… There._

_His lips quivered slightly as his whole body shook._

_Once I knew he caught his breath I went for it. I felt his upper lip against the crease of mine. I pulled away, feeling stupid. I was being stupid. Heck, I even missed!_

"_Sorry." I said quickly._

"_It's okay." Johnny said with a small smile and a blush. "You can try again."_

"Look, go sit back down before I send you all to the dean. Steve, come out in the hall with me," I said, putting the note in my pocket.

Steven slowly got up and went to the hall way eager to get out.

I went out with him and shut the door.

"I'm sorry…" he muttered softly.

I saw the tears in his eyes. "I'm not mad at you,"

"You're not?" he asked, looking at me.

I shook my head, "No… I understand how it feels, Steven. Don't go off telling no one but," I paused, not knowing if it was a good idea to tell a 14 year old kid that I was gay. "I'm gay," I muttered.

"Really?" he looked surprised.

"Yeah, but the guy I wanted to be with turned out to be gay too, we're still together and everything," I told him with a smile.

"What'd your parents sat?" Steven asked, quickly.

I paused, "Is that what you're worried about, Steven?" I asked, not wanting to have to tell him that my parents were dead.

"My whole family hates two things in this world, colored folks and queers," Steven said, "But I ain't got nothin against colors and I am queer…"

I nodded and put my hand on his shoulder, "Well you should just tell them and if they love you they'll accept you," I said, digging in my pocket for my pen and his note. "Here's my address. If you need anything at any time, just come here," I said, writing it down and handing it to him.

Steven smiled and nodded.

"Get back to class, I'll be right there," I said before walking over to the pay phone at the office.

I made sure no one was watching me and I quickly called the hospital.

**Johnny's P.O.V **

"Call for Jonathan Cade," someone called into the lunch hall.

I got up quickly and went to the phone they were holding.

"Hello?" I said quickly.

"Johnny, hey," Ponyboy said.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, looking around.

"Kinda, this boy in my class just got picked on for being gay," Ponyboy muttered.

"I'm sorry Ponyboy, what happened?"

He told me everything in a soft voice, not wanting anyone to hear him.

"Gees, Pony. Is he gonna be okay walkin the halls alone?" I asked.

"I don't think so, but there's nothing I can do. No other adult here will help him. He looks so scared of me when I took him outside. I think he thought I was gonna hit him or something," Ponyboy told me.

"Sure am glad no one like that ever found out about us," I muttered.

"Yeah. Well, I gotta get back to class. I'll see you tonight," he paused, "I love you,"

I looked around real quick, "I love you to,."


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter Six _

**Ponyboy's P.O.V **

We did end up going to Mary's house for dinner. Again. It was almost unbearable. The only good part was that her stupid boyfriend wasn't there. It was a blessing, cause there was no way I could put up with him that night.

"Where's Randy?" I asked as we sat at the table.

"Rick," she corrected with a bit of a "bitch-y" tone, "We broke up," Mary answered, quickly. She didn't look too sad about it as she sat on the other side of Johnny.

I nodded slowly and ate the food. It was almost inedible. The eggs were way too chewy, it was so creepy. It was like gummy eggs.

"I can't wait to go pick Dixie up, she's so cute," Mary said to Johnny. She didn't talk to me much, not that it hurt my feelings or anything.

"You sure you'll be able to take care of a baby by yourself?" he asked, I was thinking the same thing.

"Of course, I mean I can take her to work with me and leave her in the nursery," Mary answered.

I gave Johnny a worried look, the woman was crazy.

The rest of dinner was uneventful; Johnny and Mary talked while I ate.

I watched her closely. Mary was pretty attractive, for a girl, and it looked like she liked Johnny more than a friend. It scared me. She was beautiful and what if Johnny fell for her? I'd be stuck in Cullman, Alabama in a haunted house without my boyfriend 'cause he went off to live with some girl! Oh gees that would bite.

"Ponyboy?" Johnny asked, shaking me.

"Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts.

"You ready to go?" he asked, pulling his jacket on.

"Yeah," I answered, smiling and grabbing his arm.

"I'll see you at work, Johnny," Mary said as we walked to the door.

"Bye," Johnny said quickly as I pulled him outside.

We got in the car and Johnny glared at me.

"Why'd you leave so fast?" he asked, starting the car.

"I want to be home. I have school in the morning," I answered, crossing my arms.

"Liar, what's the real problem?" Johnny snapped, not looking at me.

"I hate Mary," I answered.

"You're being such a baby, why do you _hate_ her?" he asked, glaring at the road.

"She flirts with you a lot!"

"I'm gay, Ponyboy. G-A-Y. Homosexual, a fag, queer! I don't like girls. I wouldn't even leave you for the best looking guys in the world so, why are you so jealous?" Johnny asked, looking over to me quickly.

I paused to think.

Why was I so jealous? I mean he's gay and she's a girl so nothing should happen. But he shouldn't be gay. Gay is _wrong_ and he had time to start over the _right_ way. I was killing myself over it all.

"Exactly," Johnny muttered as we got home.

"What?" I asked, getting out.

"You're getting all mad over nothing," Johnny answered, slamming his door.

"Oh yeah? Well what's you're problem then?" I asked, walking to the house with him.

"You are. You're such a baby about this stuff," he answered, opening the door.

"A baby? Is that the best you can do?" I asked, slamming the door as I came in.

"Don't slam the door!" Johnny yelled, making me jump a little.

"Don't yell!" I yelled back, pulling my tie. "God knows I've heard enough fucking yelling at school."

"Watch you're mouth," Johnny demanded, going into the bathroom to change clothes.

I was so mad I felt dizzy, but I didn't want to yell at Johnny too much, even if he was a man and could take it.

"What are you, my mom?" I snapped, going passed the bathroom to the bedroom.

"You apparently need me to be," Johnny answered, following me.

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked, sitting on the bed and glaring at him.

"You act like you're five," Johnny answered quickly.

"I'm not taking this shit!" I yelled, "You're not gonna talk down to me!"

"You're not gonna use that language in my house!" Johnny yelled back. I could never understand his hate for cursing.

"_You're_ house?" I asked, getting up.

"_My_ house,"

"Then maybe I should just take my _five-year-old_ ass back to _my_ house in Oklahoma!" I yelled, storming out of the room and to the living room.

"How would you get there?" Johnny asked, following close behind me.

"I'll find a way," I answered, grabbing my jacket.

"Ponyboy, you're not going anywhere," Johnny said with a sigh.

"I'm going to the payphone outside," I snapped, grabbing some change.

Johnny just sighed and walked back to the bedroom.

I went outside to the payphone down the road and called the house.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Soda," I answered, smiling at his voice.

"Ponyboy, how's it going?" he asked, quickly.

"Not so good right now," I answered. "Me and Johnny just got at each other,"

"Aww, you okay, honey?" Soda asked softly.

"Yeah, it was stupid," I muttered, "So, what's going on there?"

"Well lots of stuff has happened," Soda started.

"Oh really?" I asked, leaning on the booth.

"Yeah, like you remember that Marcia girl?" Soda asked.

"Yeah, Randy's wife. We went to the wedding," I answered, remembering the rich-y wedding in the church.

"Yeah well she's cheating on him," he said.

"With who?" I asked quickly, "They looked so happy,"

"With Two-Bit," he answered, "Apparently they've been doing it for a while,"

"How long?" I asked.

"About three years," Soda answered.

"But the wedding was a year ago, if that,"

"I know," Soda said.

"So, what else is going on?"

"Well, remember that real cute girl. Cherry?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered, remembering her wedding. She married a guy who was on track with me, William Damon.

"She had a baby not too long ago and William left her for another girl he met at work," Soda explained.

"Harsh," I muttered, thinking it all over.

"Yeah, well baby I gotta get some sleep. Got work in the morning and I know you do too. If you need anything tonight just call," Soda said.

"Okay, night," I said, getting ready to hang up.

"I love you and miss you," he said softly.

"I love you too. I kinda wish I could come home," I admitted.

"Aww, Pony. I'm sure you'll grow into being away," Soda said, "And you can call anytime,"

"I know, but I really miss everyone," I told him slowly.

"I know, Pony. Everything'll work out. Night," Soda said, ending the uncomfortable conversation.

I hung the phone up and sighed, walking back to the house. When I went inside I saw that the lights were still on, but Johnny was in bed.

I sighed and went to get a shower and change clothes. I took a long warm shower to think things over. I was being a baby and really stupid. I felt so dumb and I didn't even want Johnny to have to see me again. I turned the water off when I was done and put on some pajamas. I just took a wild guess that I was sleeping on the couch that night.

I got on the couch and used a small blanket to cover up with. It was pretty cold that night and I was shivering slightly.

"Come on to bed," I heard a few minutes after I laid down on the couch.

I sat up and saw Johnny standing that the doorway of our room. "Huh?"

"Come on to bed, baby. It's cold in here," Johnny said again, smiling at me.

I sat up slowly, "I'm sorry," I muttered.

"It's okay, I shouldn't have been so mean," Johnny said.

I got up and went over to him. "I wish we were still teenagers," I said, smiling at him.

"Me too," Johnny said, putting his hands on my hips. "We screwed like rabbits though," he laughed a little.

"It wasn't a bad thing," I said, putting my arms around his neck, "But now we're getting too old and tired," I joked.

Johnny smiled and kissed me softly, "Let's go to bed,"


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven _

**Johnny's P.O.V **

I really couldn't wait for the weekend. Ponyboy and I were both off and we could have time alone for two days. It couldn't get better. The plan was for me to go get some groceries on Friday and cook dinner. After that we'd have the whole night to do whatever we wanted and I knew what that was. Saturday and Sunday would just be days we could relax together like we used to.

Friday went as planned… at first. Right when I got off of work I went to get the food to cook that night and came home to find Ponyboy sitting on the couch, looking through papers.

"I'm about to give up on them," Ponyboy muttered, hearing me come in.

"What's the matter?" I asked, putting the groceries on the counter.

"They're all not motivated, look at these grades," he answered, handing me some papers.

"55, 43, 25? Gees," I said, handing them back.

"I know. This is a test on a book. A book, Johnny. All the information was in the book and if they had read it then maybe they'd pass," Ponyboy said, shaking his head. "I am not stooping so low to as to reading the book to them,"

"And you shouldn't have to," I said, taking the papers away from him, "But tonight and this whole weekend is about us,"

Ponyboy smiled a little and nodded, "I know," he said, before kissing me quickly.

I smiled and got up to start cooking.

"What are you making?" Ponyboy asked, watching me.

"Spaghetti, the only thing I can make," I answered. I felt Ponyboy behind me.

"You're good at making spaghetti," Ponyboy said, putting his arms around my waist.

"You know it's hard to concentrate with you touching me," I said, turning around and kissing him on the cheek.

Ponyboy grabbed my arms and drug me to the couch. "Baby, I can't wait till after dinner,"

"Well the meat has to thaw anyway," I muttered, kissing him.

Ponyboy kissed back eagerly, opening his mouth for me. I pushed my tongue into his mouth quickly, not wanting to wait anymore. Forget dinner, we could just eat leftovers. I slowly unbuttoned his shirt while my other hand rested on the back of his head. I pulled away slowly and smiled at him.

"I thought you might have forgot how to kiss. It's been so long," Ponyboy whispered, putting his hands on the back of my head.

"I guess you were wrong," I said, kissing him quickly before moving to his neck. I had his shirt completely unbuttoned when there was a knock at the door.

Ponyboy sighed and pushed me off, "I'll get it," he said, buttoning his shirt as he walked to the door.

I sat up right on the couch and cursed under my breath. I mentally kicked myself for cursing.

"Steven? Are you okay?" I heard Ponyboy ask from the door.

I stood up and saw a teenage boy all beat up at our door.

Ponyboy pulled him inside quickly and shut the door.

"I-I told my parents like you said to and my d-dad he was mad…" he said as Ponyboy lead him to the couch.

"Did he do this to you?" Ponyboy asked, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Him and my brother," he answered, noticeably trying not to cry. "D-dad kicked me out and told me never to come home. My mom even agreed with him,"

"I'm sorry, Steven," Ponyboy said, looking over to me.

I understood the look; it was like the time Ponyboy found a puppy while he was out and begged Darry to let him keep it. But this wasn't a puppy. It was a gay teenage boy who got thrown out of his house.

"You can stay here," I said, patting the boy on the back.

"Who're you?" he asked, seeing me for the first time.

"That's Johnny Cade, my boyfriend," Ponyboy answered truthfully for the first time.

"Oh, thanks for letting me stay… I hope I'm not getting in the way of something," Steven said, looking at the floor.

"No, nothing's going on," Ponyboy lied. "Why don't you get in the shower and Johnny can cook dinner," he said, getting up to get Steven a towel. "You could fit in Johnny's clothes for now,"

I nodded and went to the kitchen to see how the meat was going.

A few minutes later I heard the shower and noticed Ponyboy beside me.

"You're so sweet," he said, smiling at me.

"What else am I gonna do? Send the boy back?" I asked, smiling back.

"I know it's kinda disappointing anyway," Ponyboy said, sitting on the counter.

"It is, but we have other chances," I told him. "That kid needs somewhere to feel safe for now,"

"Aw, you'd make a great dad," Ponyboy said, leaning down to kiss me. Just before he could there was another knock on the door.

"I got this one," I said, giving Ponyboy the spoon to stir the sauce.

I went over to the door and opened it.

Standing on the other side was Mary. She was holding a baby and I guessed that Was Dixie.

"Uhm, hey," I said, looking back at Ponyboy, who was stirring.

"Isn't she just the cutest thing?" Mary asked, coming into the house.

"Uh, yeah, she is," I answered, closing the door and nervously glancing at Ponyboy and the bathroom where Steven was.

"Well, Johnny you ever think about kids of your own one day?" Mary asked, sitting on the couch.

"Yeah," I answered, noticing Ponyboy look at us.

"Ponyboy, come see Dixie," Mary said, quickly, "You got a girlfriend, Johnny?" she asked.

"Naw," I answered, "I'm not really wanting one,"

"Well why not? To have a baby you gotta have a mother," Mary said, passing Dixie off to Ponyboy.

"I could adopt, like you did," I said, watching Ponyboy with the baby.

"I've never heard of a man adopting without having a woman in their life," she said, "It's just strange,"

I shrugged, "Oh well,"

Ponyboy was a natural with the baby. He knew how to hold her and how to make her laugh.

I smiled at him and really thought about adopting a baby. He wanted a baby and I wanted a baby.

"Who's that?" Mary asked.

I looked over to the bathroom where Steven stood in a towel.

"Oh, that's Ponyboy's cousin," I said quickly. "His name is Steven and he came here to stay for a while. Steven this is Mary," I said getting up and going over to him.

"Uhm, hi Mary," Steven said, giving me a weird look.

"Come on, Steven. I'll get you some clothes," I said, putting my hand on his back.

I took Steven to me and Ponyboy's room to grab him something to wear.

"Just stick with the story, Mary doesn't know about me and Ponyboy so it's best that she doesn't know about you being gay," I explained, tossing him a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Okay," Steven muttered, shyly.

I smiled at him and left the room so he could change.

Ponyboy was still holding Dixie while Mary looked around.

"This is a really nice house," Mary said to me when I came out.

"Thanks," I said, going back to cooking dinner.

Steven came out and sat beside Ponyboy.

They talked while I cooked; this really wasn't how I thought the day would be.

I really just wanted to be with Ponyboy that one day. I wanted to be able to show him how much I loved him. It had been a while.

I guess I had to wait a little longer.


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter Eight _

**Ponyboy's P.O.V **

It just wasn't fair. I mean, Steven had a good reason to come to us on the only weekend we'd made plans on, but Mary didn't.

She was always around and I felt like she just didn't want Johnny to ever be alone with anyone again in his whole life. She had to stop before I stopped her.

Steven was okay staying with us. Johnny didn't care and he needed to stay away from his parents. Kinda like how Johnny was, but Steven looked for help. He wanted us to help him. Steven didn't want to go through the rest of his teenage life getting pushed around by his parents like Johnny had. Not that Johnny wanted too, but he never asked for help. I wished he had. Anyway, I intended to let Steven stay as long as he needed to. He didn't deserve to be kicked around just for his sexual preference. No one deserved it.

Maybe one good thing came out of Mary coming over. Dixie was the cutest baby I'd ever seen. Almost the only baby I'd ever seen. She seemed to like me too. I wished that I could keep her forever. It would be nice to raise a kid with Johnny.

But anyway, Mary and Dixie left that night around nine, not giving us much time to talk to Steven. Steven was so tired he almost fell asleep while listening to Mary's 'interesting' stories.

"Is the couch good?" I asked, bringing him some blankets and a pillow. "If it gets too cold come and tell me," I told him.

"It'll be okay. It's pretty comfortable," Steven answered, smiling at me.

I nodded and gave him the blankets and pillow. "I'll see you in the morning,"

"Night," Steven said, laying down.

I smiled and went to my room. I got ready for bed while Johnny was taking a shower. I got in bed and sighed, looking at the ceiling.

Johnny came in after a while and got ready for bed.

"Why is Mary always around?" I asked, rolling on my side to look at him.

"I don't know," Johnny answered, getting into bed with me. "Guess she just likes us,"

"Or you…"

"Let's not do this again, Ponyboy," Johnny muttered, putting his arms around my waist.

I sighed and cuddled closer to him, "Okay,"

"I love you," Johnny muttered before going to sleep.

"I love you too," I said, closing my eyes.

xxxxx

The next morning I got up early to make sure Steven was okay. I went into the living room and found him still asleep on the couch. I smiled at him and started making breakfast.

There were two things I was really really really bad at and those were, cooking and driving. Johnny stopped trying to teach me to drive better and decided that I wasn't allowed to drive anymore. But he lied to me about my cooking so that he didn't have to cook all the time. My coming was really bad. Darry didn't even let me cook when I was at home, cause I'd burn down the house. But Johnny was just lazy enough to let me cook.

"Morning Mr. Curtis," I heard from behind me. I turned around and saw Steven sitting up on the couch.

"Morning Steven. How was the couch last night?" I asked, going back to making eggs.

"It was okay," Steven answered, "I'll go home today if you want me too…"

"No, you can't go back home, Steven," I said, not looking back at him, in my head I just saw Johnny. He always said that before he went back home and got beat up.

"How come?" Steven asked after a few seconds.

"Because, you'll get beat again. I'll go and get your clothes today," I said, finishing and making him a plate.

"How long am I staying here?" he asked as I handed him the plate.

"I don't know," I answered, sitting beside him.

"My relatives won't take me," he muttered, almost to himself.

I nodded, "I know the feeling," I said, eating slowly.

"What do you mean?" Steven asked, looking over to me.

"My parents died years ago… I was thirteen; it was a week from my birthday. Darry, my older brother, wanted to keep me and my older brother who was sixteen. The judge wanted to see if any of our relatives would keeps us cause Darry was only twenty. He was too young to have to support two teenagers. My father's parents were already dead by then and my mother's parents were too old to keep up with us. My father had a brother and two sisters, but they had kids and just didn't have to money for even one of us. My mother had a brother who was poor anyway. No one wanted us for different reasons," I paused, "After the court gave up and let us stay with Darry the relatives stopped calling or stopping by for friendly visits. The last I heard from the relatives was from my eighty year old grandmother calling on my sixteenth birthday," I told him.

"Oh… Wow…" Steve said, looking away from me. "I'm sorry…"

"It happened a long time ago," I muttered. "I'm over it and I'm really glad I got to stay with Darry. He raised me. Sometimes I think of him as my father. I mean, he looks so much like him… and he taught me everything I know. He pushed me to be the best and here I am. I'm happy. I have a great life," I explained. "It would have all turned out differently if I went to live with and aunt or something,"

Steven nodded and smiled at me, "Sounds like he really loves you,"

I nodded, "He does," I put my arm around him, "You'll find someone like that,"

"Yeah right… No one even liked me before I came out," Steven said, looking at the floor.

"There's more people for you to meet , Steven," I told him, "There's more than school and family. Johnny never went to school with me, if he did I never saw him. My mom met Johnny before I did. She found him outside the store, stealing some apples form a woman's cart while she wasn't watching. Mom put the apples back and scolded Johnny. After that she brought him home and had him stay at our house until she found his parents. Johnny stayed with us for two weeks. I wouldn't have met Johnny if he wasn't stealing right in front of my mother. And here I am, happier than ever with Johnny," I told him.

"Oh wow, you really had an interesting life, Mr. Curtis," Steven said, looking at me. "Where'd you live before here?"

"Tulsa, Oklahoma," I answered.

"What was it like that far north?" he asked.

"Well there were lots of gangs were I grew up, but the most popular gangs were the Greasers and The Socs. The Greasers were the poor people that greased their hair back and wore old clothes while the Socs were the rich people with new cars and all. The Socs girls were a lot prettier than the Greaser girls. I was a greaser along with my brothers and Johnny," I told him, sitting back.

"Did you commit crimes?" Steven asked.

"I didn't. Darry would kill me," I answered, smiling, "But a lot of my friends did,"

"Friends?"

"Yeah. Dallas Winston, Keith "Two-Bit" Mathews, and Steve Randle. They were tuff," I said smiling.

"Tough?"

"No _tuff_. T-U-F-F. It means cool," I explained.

"Well, what were your friends like?" Steven asked.

"Dallas was more Johnny's friend than anyone else. He was buddies with everyone else in the group, but he hung around for Johnny. Dallas was pretty mean. No one really wanted to be on his bad side. He stole for no reason, just to have fun. He hated obeying the law. It was like it hurt him. I didn't really like Dally much. He was a really big queer hater before Johnny set him straight," I explained. "And Two-Bit was just funny. He could make a shitty day much better by just a joke. He could make a joke out of everything and he did. He always had to put his two cents in and that where his name comes from. Steve didn't really like me. He was Sodapop's best friend from the second grade. He always thought I was a tag along," I stopped when I saw Johnny coming out of our room.

"Morning," he muttered, putting some coffee on.

"Morning," I said, smiling and getting up. "Want some breakfast?"

"No, I'm okay,"

xxxxx

Later that day I went to Steven's house with Johnny.

"You really wanna do this?" Johnny asked when we pulled up.

"The kid needs clothes and I need to talk to his parents," I answered, getting out of the car.

Johnny sighed and followed me.

I knocked on the door and waited.

A tall man with brown hair and glasses opened the door and looked at me, "Yes?" he asked in a n angry tone.

"I'm Mr. Curtis, Steven's teacher, may I come in?" I asked, trying to sound pleasant.

The man nodded and stepped out of the way for me and Johnny.

We walked in and went to the living room where a lady with thin blond hair sat.

"Gregory, who are these men?" she asked, standing up.

"Mr. Curtis here is Steven's teacher," he answered, sitting in a chair. "Sit down Mr. Curtis and…"

"Mr. Cade," Johnny muttered, sitting beside me.

"How may I help you two?" he asked.

"Your son Steven came to me at school about being gay. I told him to tell you about it. Well last night he showed up at my house telling me that you told his bother to beat him up and you kicked him out," I explained.

"And?" the man asked, looking me over.

"Well he's your son, sir," I said frowning.

"He's not my son, not even blood related or nothin. Is that all you needed, Mr. Curtis?" He asked, crossing his arms and glaring at me.

"You adopted him didn't you?" I asked.

"I did," the man answered.

"Well then he's your son and you need to take care of him," I said, looking him in the eyes.

"I'm not having a queer in my house," he said, shaking his head. "I'll give up all rights to anyone who'll take the boy,"

I looked at Johnny with a sad look. "The boy deserves a home where he can feel safe," I muttered.

"We're here to get his clothes and stuff so that he can stay with us for a while," Johnny spoke up.

"Go ahead. Upstairs, third door on the left," he said, staying in his chair.

I got up and followed Johnny to the room. It was a pretty nice room and he had a bunch of clothes.

Johnny found a box for us to put the clothes and shoes in. We got as much as we could and let ourselves out. We put the box in the back of Johnny's car and got in.

"Johnny, Steven told me none of his relatives would take him. And I don't think anyone around her would take him either," I said slowly.

"You wanna adopt him," Johnny stated.

"I do," I answered, not knowing how he'd react.

"Ponyboy, you think we don't have any alone time now having a teenage boy living with us isn't gonna help. Are you sure you want this. If you are, I'm okay with it," Johnny explained as he drove. "I just want you to be happy with your decision,"

"Well if I don't adopt him then he might go to a boys' home," I said, thinking.

I loved Johnny and I wanted more time with him, but Steven needed a place to stay. He needed a real family.

"I'm gonna adopt him," I decided as he pulled into our drive way.

"Are you sure?" Johnny asked, getting out and getting the box.

"Yeah," I answered, biting the inside of my lip. "No one deserves to go to a boys' home,"

Johnny nodded and we went inside to give Steven the box of clothes.

When we walked in Steven wasn't in the living room.

I gave Johnny a weird look and looked around for him.

He wasn't in the bathroom either. Johnny and I went to check our room and found him curled up on the bed, asleep.

"He must not have slept much last night," I muttered, pulling the covers over him.

"Guess not," Johnny said, turning the light off and pulling the shades down.

"What are we gonna do when I adopt him? Where's he gonna sleep?" I asked, sitting on the bed beside Steven.

"I can clean up the basement for him. It's pretty big and there's a light down there," Johnny answered, sitting on the other side of him.

I smiled at him and ran my hand over Steven's curly hair.

"You'll be a great dad," Johnny muttered.

"You too,"


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine _

**Johnny P.O.V**

Steven liked the idea of staying with us and Ponyboy adopting him. He really liked it, but he was still scared to go back to school that Monday. I would have been too, but Ponyboy would be with him. Though, Ponyboy couldn't always be with him. If I were Steven I would have dropped out and buried my head in the dirt.

Steven's too smart to drop out. He had perfect grades and a chance to go to college anywhere he wanted. But it all changed when the other teachers figured out he was gay. Within a couple of weeks he was failing almost every class and there was nothing we could do. He was torn about it.

"How's your homework coming, Steven?" Ponyboy asked, putting his hands on his soon-to-be-son's shoulders.

"What's the point anymore? I'm gonna fail Algebra anyway…" Steven said, dropping his pen and putting his head in his hands.

I gave him a sympathetic look as I cooked dinner. "Don't talk like that, Steven," I said.

"It's true. I've had you both check it over every night. I'm doing this right," he said, pushing his books off the table.

Ponyboy moved out of his was as Steven got up and went to his room in the basement. Ponyboy sighed and went over to me. "We can't keep him at this school anymore. He might never graduate," Ponyboy muttered.

"I know, but what can we do?" I asked, not looking at him.

"Move," Ponyboy answered. "Back home,"

I sighed and looked at the food I was cutting up, "You're not happy here?"

"It's really hard to be. It's so different and just hard to get adjusted to. I haven't talked to Soda in a long time and I really miss everyone," Ponyboy explained. "Please Johnny,"

I nodded, "Okay, just give me some time to get the money and sale the house and stuff in it," I said, looking around. "You should go talk to Steven,"

Ponyboy nodded and went down to his room.

The basement was cold and dark. There was a lamp, a bed, and a dresser. I wished that we could do better for Steven. It was depressing down there, but Steven said he loved it and thanked us.

Things at work were getting weird. Mary wanted to be with me all the time and I was starting to see her crush on me. It scared me cause I didn't want to hurt her. I hoped it would just go away. Or she would just go away. Mary didn't seem to have any interest in Dixie. Most weekends she'd want me to come to her house to do random handy man stuff while Ponyboy and Steven took care of Dixie at home. It was weird and uncomfortable.

Ponyboy was starting to get suspicions that something was going on between Mary and I. I didn't blame him at all. But it made me sad to have him think stuff like that. I loved him so much.

I looked out the window about the counter I was working at and sighed. It was a nice day. I would spend it cooking and worrying over Steven and Dixie.

I wanted to take Dixie form Mary so badly. Mary just wasn't made to be a mother and never would become a good one. The baby deserved to have someone like Ponyboy to pay attention to her.

I sighed when I heard a knock on the door. Right on time.

I went to open the door and wasn't surprised to see Mary and Dixie on the other side of it.

"Afternoon," I greeted, letting her in.

"Johnny, I just had to come and talk to you," Mary said, quickly as she put Dixie on the couch.

I sat down and put Dixie in my lap before she could roll off the couch. "What about?" I asked.

Mary sat beside me, taking one of my hands, the one I had a ring on that showed I was with Ponyboy. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice. "Johnny, I really like you," she said , looking me in the eye.

I looked away from her and took my hand back.

"Could you just give me a chance?" she almost begged.

"No," I answered, simply.

"Why not?" Mary asked, crossing her arms. "You're not with anyone; you're never around any other girls. Why can't you give me a chance?" she asked, putting her hand on my arm. "Is it because of Dixie? Johnny I can get rid of her, I just want you,"

"That's horrible," I said, looking down at the baby. "I don't want to be with you, Mary. I have someone else,"

"Who? The only person you're ever around is Ponyboy," Mary said, not buying it.

"It's someone back in Oklahoma," I lied.

"She won't know anything. Please," she said, putting her hand on the side of my face.

"No," I said again, looking away.

She just pushed my face closer to her.

"Stop it," I warned, pushing her away.

"Just kiss me," Mary said, "What if you like me too?"

"Mary, we're just friends," I said, looking away from her.

"But I want to be more, Johnny," she said, getting closer to me.

"I just don't like you like that," I muttered, looking at my ring.

"Why?"

"Because I'm with someone already," I answered, holding Dixie.

Before I could do anything she forced me to look at her and she kissed me.

I was in shock and couldn't remember how to move until I heard him.

"Johnny…"

I pulled away quickly and looked at him. "Ponyboy… it's not…"

"Shut up!" he yelled, letting tears flow to his eyes. "I can't believe you!"

I gave Dixie to Mary before I stood up. "Please Ponyboy, let me explain," I said walking closer to him.

"No… I trusted you, Johnny Cade! I trusted you!"

"What's going on?" I heard from the door.

Steven was standing there, looking at us with wide eyes. He'd never seen our fights.

"Ponyboy… I didn't want to kiss her," I said, putting my hands on his shoulders.

"Why should I trust you?! That's it Johnny Cade, I'm going home and taking Steven with me," Ponyboy snapped, pushing me away. "Have a great life, asshole!"

Sorry it took so long and sorry it's short. I'll update as soon as I can~ JohnnyPonyboy


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter Ten _

**Ponyboy's P.O.V**

I went to my room to pack. I was red hot with anger at him and at her. I didn't care if she didn't know about us; she was still a dirty, nasty whore! And Johnny. Johnny was such an ass whole! I couldn't believe that he would do that to me! Me, the person he'd been with for God knows how many years. I was there through everything with him.

I grabbed my things and packed them up quickly without even thinking it over, or folding my stuff.

"Ponyboy…"

I looked behind me and saw Steven standing at the door. He'd never called me by my first name. He always called me Mr. Curtis or sir. I was taken back a bit.

"Steven, get your stuff together," I muttered, going back to packing.

"Where are we going?" he asked in a small voice. It reminded me too much of Johnny.

"Oklahoma, I've got family there…" I said, trying not to think of the great times Johnny and I had together at my house on weekends.

"How are we gonna get there?" Steven asked, sitting on the bed.

"Bus," I answered, "We're gonna take the bus to a motel and we'll stay there. I'm gonna call my brother to come get us," I explained.

"We're really gonna leave?" he asked after a few seconds of quiet.

"Yeah, go get packed so we can go, don't worry. We're gonna be okay," I said, smiling at him.

He was too old to buy into my fake smiles and reassurance. I wished he was younger so that I could make this better for him. He wasn't around Johnny as much as he was with me, but he still liked him. Johnny helped him with school work that I could never do. Johnny was gonna be a missing part of his life now, but if I could get over it he could too. But, who said I could get over it?

Steven left to do as I said.

I was left alone in the room me and Johnny slept in. I was sitting on the bed that we made love on. How did I know it was only me he made love to on that bed. I put my head in my hands and cried as much as I could.

"Pony…"

I looked over to the door and saw Johnny at the door.

"Go away!" I sobbed, getting up and grabbing my bag.

He didn't go away. He didn't move from the spot he was standing at.

"Please Ponyboy, let me talk before you do something dangerous," Johnny said, shutting the door behind him.

I sighed, dropping my bag and sitting on the bed again.

"I'm listening," I muttered.

"She told me she liked me. I already knew, but I didn't want to tell you cause I didn't want you to be upset. I told her I was already with someone, but she didn't care she wanted me to try and like her anyway. _She_ kissed _me_, baby. I would never want to hurt you," Johnny explained, sitting beside me and putting his hand on my knee.

I looked at the floor, not knowing what to believe. I didn't know if I should believe him and stay, or leave and never come back but think of him every day.

"I love you, Ponyboy," Johnny said, putting his arm around me.

"I-I… I wanna go home," I said, putting my head on his shoulder.

Johnny nodded and held me close to him.

"You can go ahead and take Steven home if you want. I can stay here and finish up everything. I'll come home when I finish," Johnny said.

"I don't want to leave you here with _her_," I said with bitterness in my voice.

Johnny laughed a little and kissed me on the cheek.

"Don't worry, I think she gets that I'm gay. I explained it all to her when I told her to leave," he said, hugging me, "She didn't mean to hurt anyone,"

I nodded, "Okay. I'll call Darry tonight and see if someone can get out of work to come get me and Steven,"

Johnny nodded and got up.

"I'll make you guys some dinner?" Johnny asked, going to the door.

I smiled and nodded, getting up and going to talk to Steven.

He was in his room packing when I found him.

"Are we leaving?" he asked, putting his bag on his shoulder.

"Not till the morning, sit down," I said, sitting on his bed.

Steven sat beside me, dropping his bag on the floor.

"My parents used to scream at each other like you did at Johnny," Steven said quickly, "Usually it was about me or my brothers,"

I nodded, putting my arm around him.

"My parents used to fight when me or my brothers did something wrong, but believe me it's never your fault. If me and Johnny ever start fighting after you get in trouble or something, it has nothing to do with you. It's between us and we'd have to have been pretty mad at each other before that," I explained. "You understand?"

"I guess," he answered, smiling a little.

"Did your parents ever explain that?" I asked.

"No, Dad said that feelings like that were for little girls," he answered.

I rolled my eyes and hugged him a little.

"Well you can stop calling him 'dad' now. You can call me 'dad' now if you want," I muttered.

Steven smiled and hugged back.

"That sounds good," he muttered, holding onto me.

"If you ever need me, I'll be here for you. Or Johnny. Johnny will always be there for you," I told him. "We won't get mad at you over feelings or anything,"

"Okay, I'll remember that," Steven said, not letting me go.

-THE NEXT MORNING-

I went to the living room and put my bag on the floor with Steven's.

Darry had gotten off of work to come get us and left the night before so, he would be there that morning.

"You sure about this, Johnny?" I asked, holding his hands.

"Yeah, baby. I don't want you to be unhappy," Johnny answered, hugging me.

I hugged back, holding him close.

"I'm gonna miss you," I muttered, not letting go.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Johnny said, kissing me.

I kissed back, putting my hand on the side of his face.

Steven cleared his throat as he came into the room.

I smiled and let him go.

"You ready to go, Steven?" I asked, putting my arm around him.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Good, Darry should be here soon," I said, putting my hand on his head.

"He sounds scary," Steven said, sitting on the couch.

"He is," I said, earning a smack on the head from Johnny.

"He ain't that scary," Johnny said, sitting beside him. "Ponyboy just remembers that Darry was hard on him about school,"

Steven nodded, leaning against Johnny. He was pretty comfortable with us.

"I'll miss you, sir," he muttered to Johnny.

"I'll miss you too, kid. But I'll be with you two soon," Johnny said, putting his arm around Steven. "You'll have a great time,"

Steven nodded and smiled.

We were all gonna be okay once everything was sorted out.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter Eleven _

**Johnny's P.O.V **

-Three Month Later-

I hated watching Ponyboy and Steven go. I needed them, but I wanted them to be happy.

The house was so empty without them. It was just me and sometimes Dixie when Mary went out. Well, Dixie was over a lot.

Mary got over me and really didn't talk as much to me. She moved on to another nurse that worked with us. His name was Tim. He wasn't that nice of a guy, but he took her out and bought her nice things. He never did anything for Dixie, but I tried to make up for as much as I could. I couldn't do much, cause I was working on getting money to move and showing the house off to people would be interested.

"Johnny, could you take care of Dixie tonight? Tim is taking me out to a fancy dinner," Mary asked, one day at work.

"Mary, I have a couple coming over to see the house…"

"Thanks, I'll be there to get her around eleven," Mary said, running off to go see Tim. She hadn't heard a word I'd said.

I sighed and sat back, hoping this would be the couple that would take the house. I wanted to go home and see Ponyboy and Steven. I just didn't want to leave Dixie with Mary and that Tim guy.

I got home as soon as I could so I could make sure the house was ready for the Pattersons to see. I'd been keeping the house very clean since Ponyboy and Steven left. The day after they left I had an ad in the paper for the house and most of the stuff in it. I didn't need any of it.

The hard part was that I had Dixie with me. I didn't want anyone to think she was mine. Or did I? I mean it might have helped a bit.

I got some clean clothes on around three when they were coming over. When I got done I went and sat on the couch to wait with Dixie.

A few minutes later I heard a knock on the door and I went to get it, holding Dixie, she always tried to roll off the couch.

"Hello, I'm Henry Paterson and this is my wife, Jenny Paterson," the man said, smiling at me then to Dixie.

"I'm Johnny Cade, come in," I said, smiling back at them.

"Aw, who's this?" Jenny asked, looking at Dixie.

"This is a baby I baby sit. Her name is Dixie," I answered, holding her up a bit more.

"She's so cute," Jenny said, taking her form me.

I smiled and let her carry Dixie for the rest of the time. The tour went great. They seemed to really like it. I showed them the bedroom and bathroom first, making small talk about how nice the wood floors were. Then I took them to the basement and showed them where Steven stayed, telling them he was my cousin instead of my boyfriend's son.

"We'll give you a call," Henry said, shaking my hand as Jenny said bye to Dixie.

"Please do," I said, letting them leave.

The rest of the night I took care of Dixie, bathing her, feeding her, and rocking her to sleep. Things I was sure Mary stopped doing when Tim came along.

When Dixie cried she didn't cry for her mom, she just cried like I used to. She didn't call out for anyone, or out stretch her arms to me, she didn't even cry loudly.

I held her when she cried, I didn't want her to feel like I didn't care that she was sad. I didn't rush her to stop, not even when she spent the night and woke me up. By the end of the month that Mary first met Tim, I recognized her cries.

"Shhhh… You'll be okay," I muttered, holding her as I went to get some of her food.

She ate the food quickly.

Mary wasn't a good mother at all. I didn't want to leave Dixie with her. I would have to talk to her that night when she came to get Dixie.

I sat on the couch with Dixie and rocked her in my arms until she went to sleep. I was so sleepy, but I couldn't go to sleep till Mary came to get Dixie. It was gonna be a long afternoon.

-12:00 a.m.-

I sat on the porch with Dixie, asleep in my arms.

Mary was an hour late and I was wondering if she was gonna come at all to get Dixie.

I was steaming angry, but too sleepy to yell. I wanted to go to bed so badly, but I was giving her one more hour.

Finally, I saw her headlights as she pulled into the driveway.

"You're late," I said when she got out.

"I'm so sorry, Johnny. Tim and I spent a wonderful night together," Mary said, smiling at me.

"We need to talk about Dixie," *I said, holding the door open for her to go inside.

"Was she bad?" Mary asked, sitting on the couch.

"No, not at all, but Mary… I don't think you're ready to take care of Dixie," I said, sitting beside her.

"What do you mean?"

"Mary, you've been going out almost every night. And Dixie is so thin and scared to cry," I told her.

"What am I gonna do? Give her to an orphanage? Those things are dirty," she said taking Dixie from me.

"Well, I'm close to selling the house and I'll be leaving to Oklahoma; let me take her with me. Let me adopt Dixie," I said, looking at the baby. "I love her,"

Mary sighed, sitting back, "Well, Tim said he's not ready for kids and that's why we haven't gone to the next level of our relationship…"

"I'll take care of her," I said, smiling a little.

Mary looked at Dixie and stared at her for a couple of minutes.

I watched her, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Okay…"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve **

_Ponyboy's P.O.V_

I think Steve was scared of Darry. I would have been too if I'd just met him.

In other ways I thought that Steve might have found him attractive. Eww… He would stare at him when Darry wasn't paying attention, looking at everything he could see. When Darry felt his eyes and went to look back, Steve would blush and look away quickly.

It was cute, in a weird way. He needed to understand that Darry was his uncle.

I wondered how he'd react to Sodapop.

"How has everything been going at home?" I asked, while Steve was asleep in the truck.

"Same. Everything's pretty much the same as when you left," Darry answered, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Really?" I asked, pulling Steven closer so that he could be comfortable with his head on my shoulder.

"You seem to be the only one who changed, what happened to my kid brother?" Darry asked, smiling a little.

"What do you mean?"

"You've gotten taller and thinner and you have a kid," he answered.

"A lot has happened," I muttered, putting my arm around Steven.

"I'm happy for you. So is everyone else. We all knew you'd be something real, Ponyboy," Darry said, ruffling my hair.

I smiled, pushing his hand away, "I'm just a school teacher," I said.

"Better than a roofer or a gas station worker," Darry said, "Be proud, Ponyboy. You won't be hurting anyone's feelings. We're all so happy that you can show what a Greaser can do,"

I was surprised by the last sentence. Darry never really cared about the rumors that went around being a Greaser. Darry had too many other things to think about. He was barely a Greaser anyway. He just ended up living on the wrong side of town. The rest of us were Greasers.

"I'm glad too, I mean look at Johnny. He's working to be a doctor. He's the one everyone should be proud of," I said, smiling.

"We're proud of both of ya,"

-HOME-

The ride was long and I got to sleep most of the way with Steven.

Darry didn't stop once, no one wanted to stop till we got home.

It was dark out when we got home and I stumbled out of the truck.

"Oh god!" I yelled as I tripped and fell on the wet grass.

Darry and Steven laughed behind me and I felt myself being pulled o my feet by Darry.

"You okay?" he asked, holding me up.

"Maybe…" I answered, leaning on him.

"You're way too big to carry, kid. I'm getting too old," Darry said, pushing me along the front yard and up the steps.

"You callin me fat?" I asked, going inside.

"And stinky. Get in the shower," Darry demanded, sitting in his chair and leaning back.

"I'm an adult now. You can't tell me what to do," I argued, going to get a towel.

"I'm still bigger and meaner than you," Darry said, getting up. "Come with me, Steven. We have a spare bedroom for you,"

I smiled at Steven to encourage him to go while I was in the shower.

He was nervous on two levels to go with Darry alone. He was scared and attracted at the same time.

I shook my head and went to the bathroom to take a long shower. The longest shower I'd had in a while. When I took showers at the house with Johnny they were sometimes cut short by his wondering hands. It was the only place after Steven came where we could do anything. But at home I could take as long of a shower as I wanted. Or so I thought.

I went to get out of the shower and was surprised by another man in the bathroom, doing his hair.

"Dallas!" I yelled, jumping back and pulling the curtain over my area.

"I guess Johnny tops by the looks of things down there," Dally said, grinning.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" I yelled, grabbing my towel quickly.

"Doin my hair. What's it look like?"

"Get out!"

Dally rolled his eyes and stepped out of the bathroom while I changed quickly.

I came out of the bathroom and glared at Dally.

"Oh come on, why do you even care?" Dally asked, sitting on the couch.

"I donno," I answered, sighing.

"Dad!"

I jumped a bit, not used to being called 'dad' but I recognized Steven's voice. I got up and ran to the room he was gonna use.

In his room was him and Two-Bit. Two-Bit was showing off his knife to Steven, who looked horrified of the drunken man.

"Two-Bit!" I grabbed his arm.

"Hey Ponyboy," he said, smiling and hugging me.

"You been drinkin, Two-Bit?" I asked, smelling the alcohol on him.

"You know it, buddy. This your kid, anyhow? I didn't know you and Johnny didn't practice safe sex. Man, how'd it happen?" he asked, stupidly.

"It was a crazy night, Two-Bit. Go to the living room,"

With a little more negotiation, Two-Bit went to the living room, leaving me with Steven.

"I'm sorry bout that, son," I said, sitting on his bed beside him.

Steven nodded quickly, "He just kinda scared me,"

"He was just drunk. Two-Bit's a real cool guy," I explained, putting an arm around him.

Steven nodded and leaned on me.

I really felt like a father after that. It was one of the first times I really had to comfort him when he was scared. He was already too old for nightmares, so I missed that part of his life, but I would be there for the rest of it. I wouldn't let anyone get in my way or hurt my son.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter Thirteen _

**Johnny's P.O.V **

It took three long months to get everything settled for good. The house was sold and I had all the rights of Dixie Cade. I didn't want her to have the last name of the aunt that didn't want her.

Dixie was looking older and more beautiful. She was really growing on me.

"We're about to take a long car ride, honey," I muttered as I put her in the car around one in the morning. "We're going to see daddy and brother,"

I got in the front and looked in the back seat where she slept with her favorite stuffed animal and blanket.

I smiled and started up the car.

It was a long ride without Ponyboy to talk top that time around. Dixie slept for the most part, not that she could say much anyway. I wanted to be home so badly, well Ponyboy's house. I was gonna buy us a house whenever I could. It would be a while, but I would be working hard as I could.

We finally got into Tulsa and I stopped at the jail house. I knew he would be there, he always was.

I got out of the car and unstrapped Dixie for her seat, "We're coming here to visit a friend," I told her softly.

I walked up to the front desk, there was an officer standing there.

"Can I help you?" he asked sternly, I didn't like his tone.

"Is there a Dallas Winston here?" I asked, shifting Dixie over a bit.

"Course there is, he's been here for bout a month," the man answered.

"Well I need to see him," I told him.

"Well go to the tables right in there and we'll call him in. You better be careful runnin round here with a baby. A baby's place is with its mamma," he said.

I ignored him and went to sit at a long wood table they used for visiting.

We didn't have to wait long for Dally to be brought in with hand cuffs around his wrist.

"Hey there, John," he said, grinning as he sat down. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Wild guess, Dal," I answered, grinning and putting Dixie up on the table. "This is my daughter, Dixie,"

"Daughter? Ponyboy's back in town. Did you guys break it off?"

"No, I adopted her," I answered. "I just had to stay back to sale the house and all,"

"Oh, he got that boy with him too," Dally muttered more to himself.

"So, what'd you do to get put up in here again?" I asked.

"I stole a nice car," he answered, looking proud of himself, "It's worth it,"

"I'm sure it is, Dallas," I said, grinning. "Well, I need to be getting to Ponyboy," I said, getting up and grabbing Dixie.

"I'll see ya man, I'll be out in another month or two," Dally said, getting up to go back to his cell.

I took Dixie back out to the car to get to Ponyboy's. I was hoping he'd be home. I didn't exactly tell him we were coming that day.

It wasn't a very long drive to Ponyboy's house, ten minutes if that. It felt like forever to me. I needed him as much as I did all those years ago. Like when we were teenagers, greasy hoods. We always had each other to stay with. We were always a pair in the gang because of how small we both were. But, then we were older, bigger, but it was still us as a pair. Though we had two children to take care of, we were still together. It was an amazing few years with him and I'd plan to have many, many more.

Somehow, I don't know how, I was looking straight at another car's head lights. Someone had swerved into the wrong lane. My lane. I tried to get out of the way, but before I could it all went blank. It all went so fast.

Was I dead?

Was I just passed out?

Was Dixie okay?

Where was I?

What happened?

**The End**

**I know it was a horrible ending, but really I couldn't think of anything else to do with this story. Sorry. I should be starting another one as soon as I think of something. **

**~PonyboyJohnny**


End file.
